Sunday, January 17, 2016

While I was checking out little kennie ham's blog, to see if he responded to the Newsweek article laying bare some of his tactics in trying to get his latest ministry, the ark park, built at taxpayer expense. I wrote about it in "Newsweek looks at Ham's Folly 2". Well, in another blog post he identifies Alice Paul, honored recently in a Googe Doodle, as an anti-abortionist/pro-lifer. I am curious by what standard does he make this claim. Alice Paul . . . here is the first line from Wikipedia to give you a better idea:

"Alice Paul (January 11, 1885 – July 9, 1977) was an American suffragist, feminist, and women's rights activist, and the main leader and strategist of the 1910s campaign for the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution which prohibits sex discrimination in the right to vote."(Wikipedia: Alice Paul)

While Alice Paul might not have been as much of a historical figure like some others, for example Susan B. Anthony or Carrie Chapman Catt, Paul was a leader in the Women's Suffrage movement for many years and was even instrumental in adding women's rights to the 1964 Civil Rights Act. You can check me on it, but at no point does her biography in Wikipedia mention being an anti-abortionist or pro-lifer. I did a bit a research on Alice Paul, including Alice Paul Institute, and a number of other sites. Funny, how none of them mention any opposition to abortion. So where did Ham get his information?

I think what has happened here is little kennie is making some
assumptions. Alice Paul was born a Quaker and also was an avowed
Conservative. While I don't think being a Conservative means the same in her day as it does today, I do think kennie is making an assumption about
her position on abortion to further his own ends. There is a quote
attributed to her that kennie used:

Not
only can I not find a source for this quote, it's not framed within any
sort of context or even when she said it. It can also be taken a
number of ways. Consider what abortion was in the 19th century and the early part of the 20th century,
a very dangerous procedure often performed by unqualified people. Was
she talking about abortion procedures that were more dangerous than
child birth, or modern procedures that are medically safe. I don't know
and I doubt kennie knows either. He found one quote and ran with it,
promoting her an an anti-abortionist or pro-lifer. I disagree.
I did find this very interesting quote (I added the underline):

"Throughout her life, Alice Paul remained personally conservative and
professionally demanding of both herself and her colleagues. She did not
relinquish power readily nor could she be easily persuaded to depart
from the methods and tactics she had learned from the Pankhursts in
England. But her vision for women always transcended her conservatism
and rigidity. ‘I think if we get freedom for women, then they are
probably going to do a lot of things that I wish they wouldn’t do,’ she
said shortly before her death. ‘But it seems to me that isn’t our
business to say what they should do with it. It is our business to see
that they get it.’" (History.com: AlicePaul)

By the above quote, I really think kennie is reaching here. Think about it, "her vision for women always transcended her conservatism
and rigidity". What that says to me is that she may have held certain beliefs, she didn't allow those beliefs to stop her drive for women's rights. Based on the part of the quote I underlined, I think the case could just as easily be made that Alice Paul would be much closer to a modern pro-choicer than pro-lifer.

In my opinion she would probably never opt to have an abortion herself, but she would not deny the right for others to make their own decision. Do you really think kennie would approve of the whole "it isn't our business to say what they should do with it. It's our business to see they get it." I don't see him allowing anyone any sort of freedom. His work has proven over and over again that you either support him or you are the enemy. Little kennie not only demands that he be free to do pretty much whatever he wants, in the name of religion, and with other people's money, -- but that he is free to make you do whatever he wants as well. I'd rather kennie consider me the enemy, at least I know I am in excellent company.

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Welcome to my little corner of the Internet

This blog is more a way for me to clarify my own thinking and opinions more than for any other purpose. I like writing things down, having links to source material, and offering my own $.02. I find a blog let's me do that. I encourage comments and emails from any who wish to do so. I am not shy, as you might have noticed, and I am also not afraid of a dissenting view. I might disagree with you, but I will defend your right to say what you think as well as I expect the same respect!

Why blog on this particular topic? Well after seeing the tactics of groups like the Discovery Institute, I couldn't stay silent on the subject. After the Discovery Institute spins their lies, after the defendants in the Dover trial LIED under oath, and after Texas fired their state science curriculum director for forwarding an email appropriate to her duties-- I couldn't sit back and just watch.

I don't filter any comments, with two exceptions. Comments that are nothing more than a link to some other website hawking some service or material will get deleted. Also any comment that is abusive or derogatory will also get deleted. To date (July 2016) I have had to delete very few service/material types and only one truly abusive comment!

Thanks.

About Me

I am a family man who works in Ohio, Information Technology and computer programming are my areas of expertise. For those of you who know me, growing grass in my backyard is obviously not, so quit laughing!
Why blog? In all honesty, why not? It's fun, has been very educational, and it also has offered me insights into people and positions I may not have thought much about before. (http://www.eff.org/issues/bloggers)